1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to adhesively-backed disposable layout tapes used as aids in the construction of a building, and more particularly to a construction guidance and control system that generates such tapes that are customized and individualized for all the various and different subtasks involved in a construction project.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the construction of buildings, or other static structures, it is vitally important that the structural members and components that comprise the completed structure be accurately positioned, measured and placed according to the construction plans and specifications. In the construction of buildings, commercial and residential, this includes the proper positioning and spacing, without significant error, of studding, beams, trusses, and metal and wooden members, as well as the framing of structural openings, such as doors, windows, stairwells, vents, etc. It is also important to obtain proper spacing and positioning of building side panels and roof shingles and panels, and between courses in masonry constructions, and the structural openings therein.
The conventional practice has long been for the individual fabricators and workers to use flexible measuring tapes of fabric or metal, to make manual measuring and marking operations necessary for proper positioning and spacing of various component members. This can be awkward and difficult when no assistance is available to a person. This can also require the assistance of another individual, and can be time-consuming, particularly in construction projects where a large number of measurements and markings must be made and where relatively large distances are involved. In some cases, measurement taking and marking requires stooping, reaching and climbing, and can expose a person to greater risk of injury. Because of this, significant, and cumulative marking errors can be introduced. Often the building industry employs relatively unskilled persons, and the likelihood of measurement errors are increased, particularly in view of the fact that measuring tapes generally involve fractional dimensions (fractions of an inch), and addition and subtraction calculations must be made. Thus, workers of greater skill and training, and thus higher pay, may be required to minimize this problem, although even skilled workers will invariably make measuring and marking mistakes. The foregoing can result in errors and improperly installed components, which require costly correction, reinstallation and rebuilding.
The above-mentioned drawbacks have prompted the development of a number of inventions which attempt to simplify and make more accurate measurement and marking operations in a construction environment. They have primarily been in the nature of layout tapes and templates. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,858, an adhesive-backed stud layout tape is disclosed for facilitating construction of building wall frames assemblies. The tape has colored indicia spaced apart in multiple series of equal and repeating intervals that represent on-center distances, such as 16 inch, 24 inch and 48 inch. Complementary tape sections can be attached respectively to the top and bottom plates of a wall frame so as to guide the accurate placement of studs between these plates.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,670 also takes into consideration certain common spacings between construction members, and discloses an adhesive tape upon which is printed equidistantly placed "fields" or zones to guide the locating and spacing of common construction members. The disposable construction layout tape shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,590 is used in a similar manner and uses equidistantly placed indicia, whether it incorporates additional indicia that allows for placement of studs "on-center", "away" or "back" relative to a reference mark for stud locations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,601 shows equispaced sets of indicia printed on a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape to indicate hole patterns and locations, to indicate where holes are drilled in a surface for facilitating attachment of brackets to that surface, for example. Other examples of layout tapes are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,149,320 and 5,038,492.
While the foregoing examples may be well and good for their stated purposes, they all suffer in common from certain basic limitations. While they vary in the type of indicia used, and the sets of indicia used, they all rely on repeating series of equispaced indicia. They are essentially templates that indicate common spacing, and one must resort to building plans, specifications, and supervision in use of the tape. A fundamental limitation of all such prior tapes and templates is in the nature and extent of the information imparted to the user. They are essentially measuring devices and do not guide the user specifically in the assembly and fabrication work to be performed relative to the component part or structural member to which the tape is attached, as required for that location according to the given plans and specifications. Although, for example, prior construction layout tapes indicate common spacings for studs, and even can show a series of indicia for the spacing of king studs at a window location, there is no indication of specifically where along the taped member that the window studs are to be located, nor will such tapes give specific locations of other structural openings such as doors and stairwells, except by resort to the pertinent plans and specifications. They are also of limited application when nonstandard spacings are required. In all cases, it is required of the user, once the tape is in place, to choose which of the multiple indicia to use.
Over and beyond the above mentioned problems associated with conventional layout and template tapes is a general concern regarding conventional practices in the construction and other industries, whereby the work as originally specified by the architects and designers is not efficiently, effectively and reliably communicated to the ultimate executor of those plans, i.e., the fabricator, assembler, or constructor. There is currently no system, certainly no template or layout tape that provides a worker with all of the necessary information to allow him to perform appropriate construction tasks specifically according to the specifications and plans.